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A Pentagon deal has ignited a wider debate about AI ethics and public trust.

Airam Dato-on / Pexels

A new online movement calling for users to cancel ChatGPT subscriptions has quickly gone mainstream, and it all traces back to a controversial new partnership between OpenAI and the U.S. Department of Defence. The deal allows OpenAI’s models to be deployed inside classified government networks, a move that has sparked backlash across social media and tech communities.

Tonight, we reached an agreement with the Department of War to deploy our models in their classified network.

In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome.

AI safety and wide distribution of…

— Sam Altman (@sama) February 28, 2026

The controversy intensified when rival AI company Anthropic refused to accept similar terms from the Pentagon, citing concerns about mass surveillance and autonomous weapons.…